Update: I watched a Toastmasters Division Speech Contest last Saturday. There were four contestants competing for the award. The winner gets the nod to duke-it-out at the District Conference.

Toastmasters Starfleet Command's Prime Directive for contestants is that they must have original content. If they get caught using someone else's material—they will become disqualified, or get sent for work duty at the Romulan Death Planet for content raiding. No exceptions.

To avoid work duty at the Romulan Death Planet let's visit today's...

Feature Article: Where to Find Original Content

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It's All About the Question...

"You have a way of getting stories out of me like no one else can," Jeanine said. "We have to get together for an interview about me, the organization and our cause."

Of course I was flattered. For me, compliments are in short supply. Then I thought: "Well, who else would she ask?" (lol)

Doing an interview is another way of gathering original content. You craft the questions in such a way that brings the information to life, makes it entertaining for the audience and paves way for the person interviewed to appear as the expert.

Where to Find Original Content

Dear Associate,

Picture this:

You're sitting in the audience watching, listening and learning from the platform speaker. He's sharing facts, examples and stories to back up his points. All of a sudden he quotes something that makes you cringe... thinking to yourself, "Oh, no, not again."

It's the Michael Jordan story where the basketball star says:

"I've missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I've lost almost 300 games. 26 times, I've been trusted to take the game winning shot and missed. I've failed over and over and over again in my life. And that is why I succeed."

It's a touching quote by a champion hall-of-fame former pro ball player sharing his personal formula for success. He incorporates failure into the success formula. And he encourages you and I to look at our failures in a positive light. It's as powerful a quote today as it was when I first heard it.

But wait a minute...

Didn't another speaker offer the same quote during a presentation you attended last week? Didn't your marketing guru give Michael's quote on a teleconference call two weeks ago? And didn't another business expert use that exact quote on his electronic newsletter the month prior?

Yet after hearing this same quote for the umpteenth time from so many different experts—you begin to wonder if these so-called experts can come up with an original quote of their own. At times I just want to scream because I'm hearing the same quotes over and over again by these experts.

I mean... don't they have their own stories to tell? Haven't they experienced life in such a unique way that people would love to hear about? And don't they have personal examples or anecdotes laced with humor and personal twists that audiences would hunger for?

And the answer is YES!

The amazing truth about this is: so do you.

You have a wealth of knowledge and experiences you can tap into that can inspire a family member, your corporate board, or a conference of entrepreneurs to excel. You really do have what it takes. And it begins with you. With your original content.

Let's look at three places to find your original content:

1) Look within. Your stories are probably the single most powerful source for content. Why? Because through your stories, your audience has the ability to connect with you on an emotional level.

Sharing someone else's story is fine, but see if you can share a personal story instead. This invites your audience to experience a deeper connection with you. When this occurs they will automatically know, like and trust you.

2) Look outside. If you really want to impact people with your message, it's important to do the research. Discover something you didn't already know about your topic, category or subcategory. This has a way of positioning you as the undisputed top-gun expert.

On a recent message I gave about being the bad boy, I searched for pictures, read articles and even got a little coaching. The majority of women loved my message, even though a few weren't impressed. With research you too can create content that moves people to believe you are the expert.

3) Look around. This sounds simple enough, and it is, but it's probably the hardest one to master. Because this requires focusing on everyday situations that you'd normally miss. Women have the advantage on this one because they naturally pay more attention to detail.

As an exercise, study the next person(s) you meet. How do they look? How are they dressed? What personal items are near them? How are they carrying themselves? What do they drive? Asking questions like these brings out the rich content that we'd normally miss if we didn't notice.

I walked into a bank and noticed a female teller wearing a necklace with an outline of Africa as the centerpiece. I asked if she as from Africa and she was... Somalia. This quickly opened the door for more dialogue and from the look on her face—she was having a good time.

If you want to be known as an expert, it's essential to have rich, original content. This will allow your audience to put their faith in you sooner. And when this happens—you'll attract more business.

Warm regards,